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Short Sales are not new at all and are very taxing on all sides of the Transaction. Like said before, It is the lenders approval to take less than owed on loan to clear title and release the seller of the loan. it is SELLER BEWARE and the Seller should consult a Professional about the "Short Sale" . Not all Realtors can do short sale well and if you are a seller please try to find a Realtor that is an expert in Short Sales. As a Buyer goes it is very Frustrating and a long, long, process to get the home.
Brian

Simply put, a short sale is when a seller is asking the bank to accept less than the amount they owe on the home they are selling. It is a long process in many cases, and normally the bank won't even "talk" to you about a short sale until you have an offer on the table.

A Short Sale is when the Seller asks the Lender to take less than what is owed on the balance of the loan.
It is a long procedure and may take months to complete the transaction. The Lender may say "no" after waiting months for an answer.
This is also a pre-foreclosure sale.

Great question. We keep hearing that term in the news today. It comes from a situation where the owner of property is trying to sell their house for less than the amount that is owed the mortgage company. This situation comes about when home owners get behind on their mortgage payment or are forced to sell their home for a variety of reasons but the market value won't bring enough to pay off the loan. The strategy is to put the house on the market at a reasonable price, get an offer to purchase from a prospective buyer then submit that offer to the bank and ask that they take "short" of what is owed. Hence the term short sale. It's a way to prevent the house being taking back by the bank by way of foreclosure.

Hope that helps. Is this something you guys are facing? It's a complex process that really needs an attentive team to help people through.